A Bloody Red Rose
by LacrimosaNightmare
Summary: Grell Sutcliff makes an impulsive decision to bring a human girl to the main building of the Grim Reaper Dispatch Association after he is sent to collect the souls of her parents. After convincing Will to let him keep the girl, Grell attempts to help her rebuild the life that she had thought she ruined for herself.
1. Chapter 1

(A/N: this story is set in the modern day, over 100 years after the events of "A Reaper's Confession")

A scream was heard, coming from a room on the top floor of the house he was sitting on the roof of.

A set of sharp, pointed teeth gleamed in the moonlight.

Grell Sutcliff checked that the woman was unconscious before he collected her soul with his death scythe by cutting the woman's pale skin, releasing the soul along with the memories of her life. After checking her cinematic record, he decided she did indeed deserve to die. She was simply a boring housewife that cared too much about her appearance and paid no attention to her only child. Grell waited in the room for the woman's husband as he sprinted upstairs after hearing his wife's scream, only to be attacked in the hallway as he rushed to help her.

"You're too late," Grell whispered to the man who would be unable to hear him, "she's dead." He grinned at the woman's soulless corpse lying on the floor in front of where he stood.

The sound of a knife piercing skin could be heard from the hallway. The man gasped as blood spurted from the wound, but the sound was cut short when his throat was cut with the knife that was in his back just a moment ago. His body fell to the floor, limp and lifeless. His blood pooled around him on the floor, staining the dark wood with the rosy red that the reaper loved so much. Grell headed over to him to collect his last soul of the night.

The cinematic record of the man was as boring as his wife's. He had a dull job at a bank, and apparently had a drinking problem. It didn't look like he saw his family much at all. Grell sighed and wished he could watch the record of the killer's life instead. Seeing what had driven her to end the lives of her parents from her point of view would be a lot more interesting.

As he walked past the room she was in – her bedroom, most likely – he paused. She was standing in the middle of the room; she could be seen clearly through the doorway. She was buttoning up the front of a pale blue dress. The dress she was wearing when Grell saw her in her parent's cinematic record was lying on the floor beside her feet. It was once white and dotted with black, but it was now mostly covered with pools of dark red blood. She cursed as some droplets of blood dripped onto her bedding.

"That was quite a bloody murder."

The girl jumped and held her knife close to her chest, getting blood on her clean dress.

"Not even a scream? You are a brave one," Grell smiled, showing the girl his two rows of pointed teeth. Her eyes widened slightly, but her face still showed no fear. "Aren't little girls supposed to be well behaved, and aren't they meant to be just a little bit scared when a grim reaper turns up in their bedroom?"

"Grim reaper? That doesn't seem like a very fitting title. And I'm not scared of you, or anything."

Grell laughed once and revved his chainsaw-like death scythe, taking a step inside the room. The girl's face now showed fear; she was unable to see his death scythe as he stood in the dark hallway. Once the noise had stopped, however, her face was emotionless once again. _She's just like Will, _Grell thought to himself.

"The last time I got involved with a human," Grell said, taking a few steps towards the girl, "I ended up in a _lot_ of trouble. But I suppose it's only to be expected with me." He smiled again. "No one would be surprised. So," he leaned forward to look at the girl's face properly. "How about we start with you telling me your name?"

The girl sat further back on her bed, trying to get away from the strange man in her house. She decided that telling him her name couldn't hurt. "It's Rose. Please leave me alone." She turned her head away, frowning.

The girl's sharp reply made Grell think of William again. It made him happy in a way, her unstable state of mind and serious nature made her almost a combination of himself and his lover. "I like that name. Rose. It makes you think of a beautiful red flower, the same shade as the pretty red blood you're spilling all over yourself."

Rose took one look at the blood stains that the knife had made and decided to ignore them. It wouldn't wash out, so there was nothing she could do about it. Deciding that it wouldn't be of any use if the strange red man (or woman; she couldn't tell) attacked her, she put down the knife.

She then looked up at the person who had claimed to be a grim reaper. Their figure was clearly one of a male and their voice seemed too deep to be a woman's, but their waist length crimson hair and pretty eye makeup made them look rather feminine. Their shoes too, red and black boots with a small heel, seemed like something a woman would wear. And their red coat didn't even fit properly! It was worn around the person's elbows.

The more Rose examined the strange person, which she was assuming was a male, the more ridiculous she found the idea of him being a _grim reaper._ He was wearing bright red, not the stereotypical black hood. And don't they carry scythes, anyway?

"Are you done staring? I know it's impossible to avert your eyes from me, but most people are done admiring me within five minutes." Grell laughed as Rose sat there speechless for a moment, unsure how she should react. "I was joking. You shouldn't take someone like me too seriously. You're just like my William, that man has almost no sense of humour at all." He sat down beside her on her bed; she edged away from him slightly.

Rose looked at the man with a shocked expression. "You have a husband..?"

He smiled brightly. "Yes! Well. Practically, it's been so many years we may as well be married. How many years _has_ it been? Hmm. Probably one hundred and something." Rose looked at Grell with a face that showed that, not only did she not believe him, she also thought he was a little bit insane.

"I can tell what you're thinking, child. You don't believe anything I've said. I'll prove it to you, though. You'll see that I really am a grim reaper, and you're going to be my new child. I've always wanted one."

The room was silent for a while.

"No."

"What?"

The silence returned for a short while as Rose stared angrily at Grell, trying to stop herself from shouting at him.

However, she couldn't stop herself.  
"Are you insane? Do you honestly think I would just go off with some mental person with an _extremely_ dangerous weapon that just broke into my house? I'm not stupid! I don't want any parents either, isn't that much obvious? You saw them, right? I'd just end up killing you like I killed them! Now please," she stopped yelling and whispered the last few words desperately, "leave."

She stared in annoyance as she waited for the man to reply.

"I suppose I am a stranger," he replied, with an amused expression on his face. "My name is Grell Sutcliff, and you're lucky that it was me that was sent to collect the souls of your parents," his pointed teeth could be seen once again.

"Oh? And why is that?" Rose clearly disagreed. "All you've done so far is annoy me and make me fear for my life."

"You don't need to worry about me killing you. It's against the rules for me to kill any people that aren't scheduled to die. It's also against the rules for me to talk to any humans, but the _Grim Reaper Dispatch Society _is less likely to find out about this. They would only find out if they sent someone to check up on me, which they wouldn't because it's only – wait. What time is it?" Grell froze, panic in his eyes.

"It's around one in the morning."

Rose became confused as the red man became extremely panicked and stood up.  
"I have to hurry before someone comes out here to check on me! Will is going to get all annoyed at me again for making him wait at the office all this time, he's probably worried sick, we have to go!" He grabbed the girl's wrist and tried to pull her up, but she remained on the bed.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. I just got rid of them," she pointed at the hallway, "and I'm going to enjoy my life without them or any other annoying adults."

Grell's smile this time was cruel and condescending. "As I said, you're lucky I found you. If you stay here, you'll be caught in no time. As soon as your father doesn't turn up for work, people will check up on them. They'll ask the neighbours. And then they'll find the bodies, and find their blood all over your clothes and bedding. How well did you plan this out? Do you have a place to hide?" she turned her head away, which Grell assumed meant she had no idea what she planned to do. "At the moment, coming with me is your best option, don't you think so?"

Rose sighed and realised he was right. Running away was her original plan, but of course it would be obvious to anyone that the daughter killed the couple…

She would get caught eventually. Or die. She might be killed out in the world alone by another heartless murderer, or starve to death, or rot in a jail cell for committing such a brutal murder.

But, if this man was who he claimed to be, she might have a chance of getting the better life she'd always dreamed of.

And if he did choose to kill her, she wouldn't mind.

She would most likely die either way, it seemed, but with this man there was a higher chance of her surviving.

"Okay," she said, smiling sweetly at Grell. "I'll come with you."


	2. Chapter 2

The office of William T. Spears was silent as he awaited Grell's return. The red reaper was rarely on time, it was something that Will had come to accept long ago. He would occupy himself with a book or paperwork while waiting most nights. Expecting Grell Sutcliff to return from a job on time was just unrealistic.

It was just another part of Grell that Will had learned to accept over the years. It was something he had learned to expect.

Turning up late for work, occasionally stabbing a human that he would claim was asking for it, flirting with any attractive man he saw. These were all things that Grell just did, and would continue to do, despite his lover's disapproval.

However, what William saw walking behind Grell as he floated happily into the office, was not something that anyone would expect. Not even of Grell.

"Will! Oh darling, just look at what I found as I was collecting souls!"

Will didn't move as Grell presented the human to him. His face barely showed the anger he was feeling inside. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down slightly before speaking. He couldn't help but raise his voice just slightly.

"Are you insane?" Rose laughed softly; she had asked the man the same question. Ignoring her, Will carried on. "Do you have any idea how much trouble this will get you into? I know it was a long time ago, but surely you remember what happened the last time you decided to interfere with the life of a _human_."

Grell simply raised his eyebrows and replied; "of course I remember," adding to Will's anger.  
Will sighed again and leaned back in his chair, exasperated.

"Yes. I remember it well," Grell bore his teeth in an evil, twisted grin. "Angelina. I could never forget you," he stroked his red coat affectionately, as if it was his beloved Madame Red. "I remember exactly what happened, but I rather felt it was worth it in the end. A bit of fun, with minimal consequences considering how she..." he trailed off, looking down at Rose momentarily. "How she met her tragic end," he finished, still grinning.

William took a moment to look at the girl. Her long brown hair was tied back, with a long fringe framing her face. Her eyes were a deep brown, and showed no emotion. She didn't seem like the sort of human that could easily catch Grell's attention. Nothing about her stood out.

Will stood up, and slowly, calmly, walked over to stand in front of Grell. His expression had turned from enraged to calm and expressionless.

"Take it back."

The girl looked up at Will, annoyed. _It? How rude, _she thought to herself. She had thought he looked professional, if not a little boring, but he seemed like the sort of man that would at least have _some_ manners. Then again, he was apparently in some sort of relationship with this red freak. The girl didn't know what to think about either of them.

"I can't take her back! Not now, she already knows what we are. And she's seen the dispatch building. And everyone in the halls will see that she's a human."

Will narrowed his eyes. "There are only a few reapers working right now. It shouldn't be hard to get a human out the door without anyone seeing you. She won't survive long without the support of her parents. We will have nothing to worry about if you take her back _right now."_

"I most certainly will not! She's our perfect child! Can't you see? Just look at-"

The two reapers stared at each other with wide eyes.

"Grell… Where did she go?"

Rose smiled mischievously as she strolled along a long corridor. The two men arguing had given her a perfect opportunity to slip out of the open door to explore for a while. She thought that she should feel sad; she would most likely be killed by the man named Will, or be taken back to the human world to die slowly of starvation, out in the cold, all alone.

But she didn't feel sad at all.

Rose was almost too caught up in her own thoughts to notice when a young man stepped out in front of her as he left an office. She stopped abruptly in front of the blond, who had narrowly avoided walking into her.

"Whoa, I almost didn't see you there! I'm Ronald Knox, it's nice to meet you," the man smiled brightly. Rose was relieved to see him; she had met someone normal for the first time that night.

The man named Ronald had a confused look on his face as he looked at the girl's dress. Rose noticed his expression and remembered the blood dripping from the knife as Grell spoke to her back in her bedroom. She had only just met this person, and she didn't feel like they were ready to hear about the events that had happened before her arrival here.

"Don't mind those stains, I spilled my drink earlier and I'm just going to change my dress now." She smiled brightly and forced a laugh.

Ronald didn't appear to have heard her. He was staring at the dark red pattern at front of her dress. "Is that blood?"

_I don't know this man. I have nothing to lose. Why bother lying to him? _Rose smiled with a hint of insanity in her eyes. "It belonged to my parents. I'm Rose, by the way," she looked over her shoulder in the direction of the office that Grell was in, "Rose Sutcliff. I think I'll call myself that from now on."

"Sutcliff? Like, Grell's name?" Ronald rolled his eyes. "I shouldn't be surprised. So, you killed your parents and he dragged you here? He really is insane."

"There's a lot more to the story than that. I'll tell you all about it, if you're interested. Is there anywhere we can go that will keep us away from Will for a while? He wants to leave me in the human world."

Ronald thought about it for a while. "There's no one in this office. I was just heading home but…" He opened the door that he had walked out of a few minutes before. "You can tell me your story in here."

Rose smiled and skipped into the room happily. Once the two were sitting on chairs that had been pulled into the centre of the room, she began to tell the man named Ronald everything that had happened that night. She didn't miss out a single detail.

As the girl spoke to him, Ronald could see exactly why Grell had taken a liking to her. In fact, he found that he liked her himself. She was interesting, to say the least.

"…and then, from outside the office, I heard Will say that Grell had to take me back to the human world to let me die! And that's when I met you." As she finished the story, Ronald noted how casually she had spoken of the death of her only family members. She showed almost no expression, and spoke about the murders as if she was reading something uninteresting from a page. It made her seem almost the opposite of Grell. It did remind him of someone, however…

The door of the office burst open. The room was filled with a red glow.

"Wiiiilllllll! I found her! See!" Grell looked at the figure in the doorway and pointed at Rose, who seemed annoyed.

Will pushed up his glasses and took a step into the room. "Honestly. I can't believe I agreed to this."

Grell was grinning, excitement flashing in his eyes. He grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her towards the door.

"We're going home, come on!"

Ronald blinked in surprise as the door closed, leaving him in the room alone.

He sighed, shaking his head as he got up from his chair. He left the building silently, his mind working hard to process the events he had both witnessed and heard about that evening.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose lay on the soft couch and gazed at the ceiling in the darkness. It turned out that Grell wasn't exactly prepared for this child that he had "always wanted". There wasn't a spare bedroom, so Rose was forced to sleep in the living room.

Though the couch was comfortable enough, the girl found it difficult to fall asleep. How could she possibly relax enough to let sleep take over after the night she'd had?

Rose had thought that the two reapers were asleep. She sat up abruptly when she heard a light being switched on in the kitchen of the small house. The clock ticked away on the wall. It was almost six in the morning. Falling asleep now would be pointless, she thought.

Pushing the red blanket away from her, Rose quietly moved to stand in the doorway and watched as Will poured boiling water into a cup. The air was filled with the strong scent of coffee. Rose broke the silence. "What made you change your mind?"

She waited calmly for an answer. Will sighed, turning his head only slightly to look at the girl standing in the doorway. Her eyebrows were raised slightly, and she tilted her head in an attempt to get a reply from the man.

Will pushed up his glasses and walked to the small dining table in the corner of the room. "Honestly." He placed his cup on the table and sat down, avoiding the girl's piercing stare.

It was Rose's turn to sigh. Marching over to the table, she leaned on the back of the chair opposite Will.

"Aren't you going to answer me? That's not very polite," she forced William to look at her, her face displaying no emotion, completely serious.

Will narrowed his eyes. "Please, stop shouting like that. You'll wake him up." He took a sip from his cup. Rose smiled softly.  
"You didn't, right?" She choked out a laugh. "You still plan on ending my life." It wasn't a question; she knew his silence was the answer.

"So how are you going to do it?" She wandered over to the kitchen counter. "With one of these, perhaps," she stroked the handle of a knife that was sitting in the knife-block with her finger gently. "Or maybe you'd prefer to do it without a weapon, with only your hands. But of course that would upset your Grell, wouldn't it?" She sat herself in the chair opposite Will. "Perhaps a deadly poison slipped into my tea would be better. Oh! Or maybe we could stage a little accident where I-"

"I'm letting you stay here because I'm almost certain that the one to end your life will be Grell."

Rose jumped slightly. Her eyes widened. She was unable to speak, but Will answered the question that he could easily read in her eyes. "It wouldn't be the first time."

She shook her head violently in disbelief. "He was the one that brought me here. If he wanted me to die he would have simply left me there in the human world."

Will smiled at the girl. "You know nothing about him. I wouldn't get too involved, if I were you. If he keeps his promise to send you back to the human world then I'll have no complaints. But if you end up getting too close to Grell," his patronizing smile faded, "then I'll be forced to put an end to your existence, before something happens."

The girl looked panicked. "I don't understand," she felt her heartbeat increase, "why would you have to do that? What would happen if you didn't? Wait, what happened before?"

Will's head snapped up and he stared at the doorway. Grell waltzed into the room, already dressed with his hair and makeup perfect. His pointed teeth were on show and his face was glowing at the sight of the two sitting together at the table.

"How adorable, the two of you are getting along already," he grabbed Will's arm and pulled him out of his chair. He attempted to fix his lover's hair as he hurriedly escorted him out of the room. Rose could hear Grell mumble something about William having to get dressed before breakfast as they left the room.

The girl sighed and stood up to check the cupboards for something to eat.

"If she's going to stay here for a while then I simply must take the girl clothes shopping," Grell picked up a hairbrush and pulled it through Will's short hair. Will frowned and edged away.  
"Grell, I can do this myself." He took the brush from his pouting lover's hands. "You can't keep her here for too long. There isn't enough room in here for a pet as well as us." His eyes narrowed. Grell rolled his eyes.  
"She's a child. I can't just kick her out," he looked up at Will with sadness clouding his eyes. "I broke the rules the minute I spoke to her. This really isn't any worse. There's no turning back, not now."

"I'm just worried about you, Grell. It was a long time ago, but the last time-"

"Oh stop with all the "last time" talk, I remember exactly what happened and it won't happen again," Grell snapped, folding his arms dramatically.

"I hope you're right," Will sighed, "because it won't just be a suspension that you get this time. I'm going to trust you on this," he decided suddenly, "but I don't want to be involved. If things go wrong, I won't-"  
Grell silenced him by placing his hands on Will's shoulders. His expression was serious, a rare sight on the face of Grell Sutcliff.

"I won't kill this one, I promise. So don't go scaring her with the Madame Red story." He smiled brightly and skipped out of the door before Will could reply.

Will could hear his lover speaking to the girl in the kitchen for a while before he heard the sound of the front door closing.

He put his hand to his forehead and groaned. _What have I gotten myself into, _he thought to himself.

"Honestly."


	4. Chapter 4

Grell was half-heartedly wandering around the third clothes shop that he and Rose had visited that morning. "There simply isn't enough red in here. No bright reds have caught my eye, only a small amount of a boring dark red. There's nothing with passion." He flicked his hair to the side.

The shopkeeper turned her head to look at the man. "I think we have quite enough red in here at the moment," she muttered, glaring at him through her silver-rimmed glasses.

Rose smiled at the woman, ignoring the mean stare that she was directing at Grell. "I think that everything in here is lovely," she shot Grell a warning glance before he could disagree, "though the colours might not be the preference of _some people._"

She picked out a short skirt with a floral pattern from a rail and a pale blouse that she thought would match. "I think I'll try these on, and this," she admired the lace detail on the front of a knee length dress, "and then we can look for some shoes." She smiled sweetly at Grell before closing the curtains of the changing room.

The shopkeeper rushed over to Rose as soon as she walked out of the changing room. "Isn't this the prettiest dress you've ever seen? But you're so slender, the shape needs to be…" Rose looked at the woman's name tag. _Nina._ She jumped slightly as the woman named Nina unexpectedly grabbed the sides of the skirt and pulled it out slightly. Nina turned around and searched the clothing rails for a skirt in the correct size. She thrust a frothy underskirt at the girl, instructing her to put it on immediately.

The girl was once again taken aback by Nina's behaviour as she stepped out of the changing room a second time. The woman ran her hands down the sides of the dress, admiring how the underskirt had made the dress more eye-catching. Rose felt a faint blush cover her face at the unexpected contact. It felt strange to her, being touched so casually by a person that she hadn't met before.

"I still think a brighter colour would look better, you'll just blend into the background wearing white," Grell stated, his eyes focused on something across the street. The woman named Nina gasped and spun around to face Grell. She crossed her arms and her eyebrows knitted together. She drew in a sharp breath and prepared to voice how insulted she was at the man's statement. Grell's face showed nothing but boredom as he turned his head to look at the woman.

Cheeks flushed, Nina began to speak.

"There is not a single one of my designs that was created to "blend into the background" and I certainly wouldn't let a beautiful flower such as this one leave my shop wearing something that could be considered _plain_!" She spat out. "Why, that would be an insult to both the girl and I." She leaned forward to peer into Grell's face. He rolled his eyes at her, adding to her annoyance. "You're so blinded by the colour that you don't stop to pay attention to the more important parts of the garments. The detailing on the fabrics means nothing to you, correct? And what of the silhouette created?" She threw her arms out in the direction of the girl. "Colour is worthless if the outfit itself doesn't properly flatter its wearer. The colour should be the last thing you consider."

Rose had been smiling brightly with her face in her hands after being referred to as a "beautiful flower" and had forgotten to properly listen to what the woman was ranting about. She felt that paying attention wasn't necessary, since it was directed at Grell. Her eyes widened slightly as a question blossomed in her mind. She took a few steps forward and voiced it.

"Nina, did you say that you had designed these?" She gestured at the clothes around her. The woman turned her back to Grell, who was still stubbornly insisting that the colour red would make any outfit a lot more attractive.

"Of course!" She beamed, her eyes shining brightly. "My grandmother's great grandmother was _the _Nina Hopkins, the woman that designed clothes for all the aristocrats, back when Queen Victoria was still around. She could sew a shirt quicker than it took to have afternoon tea, and her designs were always completely original and suited their wearer perfectly. Only the wealthiest could afford to wear her designs, and those who wore them would have been the most unique and by far the most beautiful people around. And I, the chosen one to be named after her," she ran a hand through her light brown hair, smiling up at the ceiling, "am no different! Well… Except my designs aren't too expensive and I don't make them myself and I design them for people to choose from a shelf. It would be so wonderful to have rich ladies waltz in here and request something, and for me to make it especially for them." Nina sighed, and her expression suddenly became wistful. Rose narrowed her eyes as Grell began to laugh softly at the woman's sudden despair, silencing him.

"I'm sure that your great, great, great…" Rose stared at her fingers, struggling to quickly work out how many "greats" were needed with them. She shook her head in defeat and started again. "The other Nina Hopkins would probably be really impressed with how well you've done, so don't worry. This shop is wonderful."

Nina's face was again covered with an elated expression. She flew over to the girl, shocking her once again by throwing her arms around her pecking her cheek. She gave the girl a gentle squeeze and released her, wiping away a tear in an overdramatic show of emotion. The woman began to speak, thanking the girl for her kind words, but she was rudely interrupted by Grell, insisting that he and Rose should be leaving soon.

Nina seemed to be truly upset at Rose having to leave, but the girl found it difficult to take any of the flamboyant woman's actions seriously. She waved as she walked out the shop's exit, laughing at how desperate Grell was to leave. She found the two's personality clash amusing.

"She seems nice," Rose smirked. Grell ignored her. The silence made his opinion on the woman obvious.

He spoke up eventually. "I think I need a break, we should stop for some tea and then-"

"Those would match _everything_ I bought at Nina's!" Rose had stopped abruptly in front of a shoe shop and was staring at a pair of white boots sitting in the window display. Grell found himself being dragged inside the shop before he had a chance protest.

Back in her shop, Nina paused for a break while sorting through the sizes on one of her clothes rails. "I really need someone to do this for me," she sighed, taking her glasses off to clean the lenses.

Her eyes widened suddenly. She thought of the smiling girl with the long brown hair who was in just a half hour ago. "She would be perfect," she said, smiling to herself.


End file.
